Fewer refugees, less smuggling arrests, fewer people in custody - after the peak of the refugee crisis in the late summer, the situation relaxed, abendzeitung-muenchen.de reported yesterday, May 201, 2016. Only one refugee related number is still on the rise.

The load of arrested smugglers for the Free State of Bavaria during the late summer months of 2015 is decreasing. The number of convicted smugglers recently rose significantly, but fewer and fewer people are detained for months for reasons of trafficking. Until the end of April Bavaria's interior ministry has counted only 50 new cases of attempted smuggling on the border with Austria. In 2015 there have been a total of 2,600 cases.

According to the Ministry of Social Affairs, the closing of the Austrian and South East European borders have caused the new development. The number of refugee arrival in Bavaria has been rapidly falling over the past few months and only exactly 5,555 asylum seekers have entered Bavaria in April this year. In January this year, 75,000 were counted.

Number of smuggling processes increases

Earlier this week, there were only 109 people suspected for trafficking in custody within the Free State only 109 trafficking in custody. Last September there were nearly 800 of them, as the Justice Department announced. The Authority cites a decline "in still a high level." At the same time more smugglers are being convicted at Bavarian courts. By mid-2015, only 24 smugglers have been convicted. The number for this year is 202 already.